Before you stream the Guy Lombardo orchestra playing a musical version of Robert Burns’ poem, we must have the obligatory year-end review starting with the purpose expressed in the inaugural post:
…created to provide meaningful and useful messages leading one to a
more fulfilling life because I want to be helpful and I enjoy writing them.
Expectations v. Reality.
- Intent. Originally, “meaningful and useful” meant intellectual-sounding essays with actionable instructions. Several of my early guest editors graciously informed me that I am more helpful by offering perspectives designed to stimulate thinking than attempting to add to the abundantly available personal development material. The shift in focus was validated each time you correctly informed me I was wrong. (Un)fortunately, I will not always be correct, but I can always stimulate thought.
- Skills. Five hundred hours of pen-to-paper or fingers on the keyboard unavoidably improved my writing skills. However, work remains to eliminate the hideously long, needlessly wordy, convoluted, awkward, passively phrased, run-on sentences that plague my prose.
- Content. Finding 52 topics was remarkably easy; I ran out of time long before running out of ideas.
- Drafting. Each piece began with a relatively quick handwritten draft followed by an arduous revision process. I wrestle with the text as long and intensely as Santiago in his epic arm wrestling match in Earnest Hemingway’s Old Man and The Sea. After ten hours and over a dozen revisions, I tamed the words into a message.
- The Limit. The self-imposed 700-word limit is patterned after the mini-skirt, long enough to cover the subject and short enough to keep it interesting. A lot of good stuff wound up on the cutting room floor. The limit required me to choose each word thoughtfully and place them in the text with the same care Giotto employed in assembling the Navicella mosaic.
- Personal Accomplishment. Today’s dispatch is the final step in achieving my goal of composing and publishing 52 helpful messages in one year. It required overcoming self-doubt, creativity, persistence, and 700 hours of effort – a labor of love. With the first year’s writing over, my mind was immediately tempted to think about what I wanted to do next year. I intentionally paused before doing so to reflect and allow a momentary self-satisfied grin to come across my face.
Gratitude
- Sadaf, the blog administrator, did all the heavy lifting to format, organize, post, and distribute the messages. You would not have seen a single word without Sadaf.
- The guest editors generously contributed their time and thoughts that improved my message. The featured brands cheerfully participated in the world’s smallest marketing opportunity. Together, they added an air of legitimacy to this nascent endeavor.
- For everyone along my life journey who shared thoughts and experiences that found their way into my mind and words.
- For my dear subscribers whose faithful reading and feedback, critical and affirming, fueled my ambition to complete the 52 Steps and inspired me to do my best.
The Final Exam
The first post also contains the standard for measuring success:
If…consuming the messages resulted in an accumulation
of learnings and consequent actions that moved you toward a
more fulfilling life, the blog will have been meaningful and useful.
I start by acknowledging the blog’s impact on me. The hours spent contemplating the subjects changed my mind for the better.
Of course, you are the final arbiter of the blog’s effectiveness, and I can only offer a few observations.
While I can walk through the airport without being recognized, the blog has garnered an intensely loyal, albeit modest, following; nearly two-thirds of the emails are opened each week.
You kindly expressed appreciation for the blog’s presence and sent many “I really needed this today” emails. Recently, a reader informed me he turned to a six-month-old message for guidance and support.
The Journey Continues
Next year, there will be new messages on new topics and revised ones on topics of enduring relevance.
Finally, if you find 52 Steps Forward helpful, please expand its reach by inviting others to join our readership group. This is not a strong-arm request; I want subscribers, not victims.
